Determining and navigating to a target location

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for detecting the location of a target, such as an event or another device, and navigating a device to the target are described herein. The device may be located inside of a building, and the target may be located inside the same building (or a nearby building). The location of the device and/or the location of the target may be determined using, for example, short-range wireless sensors, such as Bluetooth (e.g., Bluetooth Low Energy) sensors, Near Field Communication sensors, or other indoor location sensors. The device may navigate a user of the device to the target location.

FIELD

Aspects described herein generally relate to computer networking, remoteaccess, and location detection. More specifically, aspects describedherein relate to detecting the location of a target, such as an event oranother device, and navigating a device to the target.

BACKGROUND

Users, such as employees of a company, may be unfamiliar with an indoorlocation they rarely visit, such as a new office building or a nearbyoffice building. For example, the company may have offices across theworld. An employee who visits another office may have difficulty findingthe location of a meeting or finding another employee because theemployee is unfamiliar with the new office. The employee may waste asignificant amount of time making phone calls, looking at a physical mapat the entrance of the building, and/or running around to find themeeting location or the other employee.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of various aspects describedherein. This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intendedto identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of theclaims. The following summary merely presents some concepts in asimplified form as an introductory prelude to the more detaileddescription provided below.

To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and toovercome other limitations that will be apparent upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, aspects described herein aredirected towards systems, apparatuses, computer-readable media, memory,and methods for receiving (e.g., at a user device) a selection of atarget within a building. The location of the target within the buildingmay be determined from among a plurality of discrete locations withinthe building. A location of the user device (or other device) within thebuilding may also be determined based on one or more location sensors,such as Bluetooth sensors or Near Field Communication sensors.Determining the location of the target within the building may also bebased on one or more location sensors. The method may comprisedetermining a navigation path within the building from the location ofthe user device to the location of the target. A display of thenavigation path within the building from the location of the user deviceto the location of the target may be generated for display on the userdevice.

In some aspects, the target may comprise an event. Determining thelocation of the event may comprise accessing a calendar servicecomprising information for the event and determining, as the location ofthe event, a location identified in the information for the event.

The method may comprise receiving, at the user device, an invitationfrom a second user device for a user of the user device to go to thelocation of the target. Receiving the invitation may occur prior toreceiving the selection of the target. The invitation, including anoption to select the target, may be displayed at the user device, andthe selection of the target may comprise a selection of the option. Thetarget may comprise a second user of the second user device, and thelocation of the target may comprise a location of the second userdevice. In this example, determining the location of the target maycomprise determining the location of the second user device.Alternatively, the target may comprise an event, and the location of thetarget may comprise the location of the event. In this example,determining the location of the event may comprise accessing a calendarservice comprising information for the event, and determining, as thelocation of the event, a location identified in the information for theevent.

If the target comprises an event, the method may comprise receiving, atthe user device, a notification of the event, prior to receiving theselection of the event. The notification may be received a predeterminedamount of time prior to a start time of the event. The method maycomprise displaying, at the user device, the notification of the event,including an option to select the event. The selection of the event maycomprise a selection of the option.

If the target comprises a second user of a second user device, themethod may comprise sending, by the user device, a request for thelocation of the second user device prior to receiving the selection ofthe second user. The method may also comprise receiving, from the seconduser device, an authorization message to share the location of thesecond user device. The receiving the selection of the second userpreviously described may be performed in response to receiving theauthorization message to share the location of the second user device.

These and additional aspects will be appreciated with the benefit of thedisclosures discussed in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of aspects described herein and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative computer system architecture that may beused in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative remote-access system architecture thatmay be used in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative virtualized (hypervisor) systemarchitecture that may be used in accordance with one or moreillustrative aspects described herein.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative cloud-based system architecture that maybe used in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative enterprise mobility management system.

FIG. 6 depicts another illustrative enterprise mobility managementsystem.

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative system for location detection andnavigation in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method of sharing a target location with adevice in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example display screen for displaying a list ofcontacts in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example display screen for displaying options forinteracting with a contact in accordance with one or more illustrativeaspects described herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example display screen for requesting thelocation of a target in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example display screen for sharing the locationof a target in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example method of determining the location of anevent and generating a notification of the event in accordance with oneor more illustrative aspects described herein.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example display screen for displaying an eventnotification in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 15 illustrates another example display screen for displaying anevent notification in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example display screen for displaying details foran event in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example display screen for inviting a user to anevent or a particular location in accordance with one or moreillustrative aspects described herein.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example display screen for receiving aninvitation to an event or a particular location in accordance with oneor more illustrative aspects described herein.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example method of generating a map and/ornavigating a user to a target location in accordance with one or moreillustrative aspects described herein.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example display screen for navigating a user to atarget location in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 21 illustrates another example display screen for navigating a userto a target location in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings identified above and which form a parthereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodimentsin which aspects described herein may be practiced. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural andfunctional modifications may be made without departing from the scopedescribed herein. Various aspects are capable of other embodiments andof being practiced or being carried out in various different ways.

As a general introduction to the subject matter described in more detailbelow, aspects described herein are directed towards detecting thelocation of a target, such as an event or another device, and navigatinga device to the target. The device may be located inside of a building,and the target may be located inside the same building (or a nearbybuilding). The location of the device and/or the location of the targetmay be determined using, for example, short-range wireless sensors, suchas Bluetooth (e.g., Bluetooth Low Energy) sensors, Near FieldCommunication sensors, or other indoor location sensors. The device maynavigate a user of the device to the target location.

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used hereinare for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting. Rather, the phrases and terms used herein are to be giventheir broadest interpretation and meaning. The use of “including” and“comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the itemslisted thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional itemsand equivalents thereof. The use of the terms “mounted,” “connected,”“coupled,” “positioned,” “engaged” and similar terms, is meant toinclude both direct and indirect mounting, connecting, coupling,positioning and engaging.

Computing Architecture

Computer software, hardware, and networks may be utilized in a varietyof different system environments, including standalone, networked,remote-access (aka, remote desktop), virtualized, and/or cloud-basedenvironments, among others. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a systemarchitecture and data processing device that may be used to implementone or more illustrative aspects described herein in a standalone and/ornetworked environment. Various network nodes 103, 105, 107, and 109 maybe interconnected via a wide area network (WAN) 101, such as theInternet. Other networks may also or alternatively be used, includingprivate intranets, corporate networks, LANs, metropolitan area networks(MAN) wireless networks, personal networks (PAN), and the like. Network101 is for illustration purposes and may be replaced with fewer oradditional computer networks. A local area network (LAN) may have one ormore of any known LAN topology and may use one or more of a variety ofdifferent protocols, such as Ethernet. Devices 103, 105, 107, 109 andother devices (not shown) may be connected to one or more of thenetworks via twisted pair wires, coaxial cable, fiber optics, radiowaves or other communication media.

The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings refersnot only to systems in which remote storage devices are coupled togethervia one or more communication paths, but also to stand-alone devicesthat may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that havestorage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a“physical network” but also a “content network,” which is comprised ofthe data—attributable to a single entity—which resides across allphysical networks.

The components may include data server 103, web server 105, and clientcomputers 107, 109. Data server 103 provides overall access, control andadministration of databases and control software for performing one ormore illustrative aspects describe herein. Data server 103 may beconnected to web server 105 through which users interact with and obtaindata as requested. Alternatively, data server 103 may act as a webserver itself and be directly connected to the Internet. Data server 103may be connected to web server 105 through the network 101 (e.g., theInternet), via direct or indirect connection, or via some other network.Users may interact with the data server 103 using remote computers 107,109, e.g., using a web browser to connect to the data server 103 via oneor more externally exposed web sites hosted by web server 105. Clientcomputers 107, 109 may be used in concert with data server 103 to accessdata stored therein, or may be used for other purposes. For example,from client device 107 a user may access web server 105 using anInternet browser, as is known in the art, or by executing a softwareapplication that communicates with web server 105 and/or data server 103over a computer network (such as the Internet).

Servers and applications may be combined on the same physical machines,and retain separate virtual or logical addresses, or may reside onseparate physical machines. FIG. 1 illustrates just one example of anetwork architecture that may be used, and those of skill in the artwill appreciate that the specific network architecture and dataprocessing devices used may vary, and are secondary to the functionalitythat they provide, as further described herein. For example, servicesprovided by web server 105 and data server 103 may be combined on asingle server.

Each component 103, 105, 107, 109 may be any type of known computer,server, or data processing device. Data server 103, e.g., may include aprocessor 111 controlling overall operation of the rate server 103. Dataserver 103 may further include random access memory (RAM) 113, read onlymemory (ROM) 115, network interface 117, input/output interfaces 119(e.g., keyboard, mouse, display, printer, etc.), and memory 121.Input/output (I/O) 119 may include a variety of interface units anddrives for reading, writing, displaying, and/or printing data or files.Memory 121 may further store operating system software 123 forcontrolling overall operation of the data processing device 103, controllogic 125 for instructing data server 103 to perform aspects describedherein, and other application software 127 providing secondary, support,and/or other functionality which may or might not be used in conjunctionwith aspects described herein. The control logic may also be referred toherein as the data server software 125. Functionality of the data serversoftware may refer to operations or decisions made automatically basedon rules coded into the control logic, made manually by a user providinginput into the system, and/or a combination of automatic processingbased on user input (e.g., queries, data updates, etc.).

Memory 121 may also store data used in performance of one or moreaspects described herein, including a first database 129 and a seconddatabase 131. In some embodiments, the first database may include thesecond database (e.g., as a separate table, report, etc.). That is, theinformation can be stored in a single database, or separated intodifferent logical, virtual, or physical databases, depending on systemdesign. Devices 105, 107, 109 may have similar or different architectureas described with respect to device 103. Those of skill in the art willappreciate that the functionality of data processing device 103 (ordevice 105, 107, 109) as described herein may be spread across multipledata processing devices, for example, to distribute processing loadacross multiple computers, to segregate transactions based on geographiclocation, user access level, quality of service (QoS), etc.

One or more aspects may be embodied in computer-usable or readable dataand/or computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices as describedherein. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor ina computer or other device. The modules may be written in a source codeprogramming language that is subsequently compiled for execution, or maybe written in a scripting language such as (but not limited to)HyperText Markup Language (HTML) or Extensible Markup Language (XML).The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computerreadable medium such as a nonvolatile storage device. Any suitablecomputer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or anycombination thereof. In addition, various transmission (non-storage)media representing data or events as described herein may be transferredbetween a source and a destination in the form of electromagnetic wavestraveling through signal-conducting media such as metal wires, opticalfibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g., air and/or space).Various aspects described herein may be embodied as a method, a dataprocessing system, or a computer program product. Therefore, variousfunctionalities may be embodied in whole or in part in software,firmware and/or hardware or hardware equivalents such as integratedcircuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and the like.Particular data structures may be used to more effectively implement oneor more aspects described herein, and such data structures arecontemplated within the scope of computer executable instructions andcomputer-usable data described herein.

With further reference to FIG. 2, one or more aspects described hereinmay be implemented in a remote-access environment. FIG. 2 depicts anexample system architecture including a generic computing device 201 inan illustrative computing environment 200 that may be used according toone or more illustrative aspects described herein. Generic computingdevice 201 may be used as a server 206 a in a single-server ormulti-server desktop virtualization system (e.g., a remote access orcloud system) configured to provide virtual machines for client accessdevices. The generic computing device 201 may have a processor 203 forcontrolling overall operation of the server and its associatedcomponents, including RAM 205, ROM 207, I/O module 209, and memory 215.

I/O module 209 may include a mouse, keypad, touch screen, scanner,optical reader, and/or stylus (or other input device(s)) through which auser of generic computing device 201 may provide input, and may alsoinclude one or more of a speaker for providing audio output and a videodisplay device for providing textual, audiovisual, and/or graphicaloutput. Software may be stored within memory 215 and/or other storage toprovide instructions to processor 203 for configuring generic computingdevice 201 into a special purpose computing device in order to performvarious functions as described herein. For example, memory 215 may storesoftware used by the computing device 201, such as an operating system217, application programs 219, and an associated database 221.

Computing device 201 may operate in a networked environment supportingconnections to one or more remote computers, such as terminals 240 (alsoreferred to as client devices). The terminals 240 may be personalcomputers, mobile devices, laptop computers, tablets, or servers thatinclude many or all of the elements described above with respect to thegeneric computing device 103 or 201. The network connections depicted inFIG. 2 include a local area network (LAN) 225 and a wide area network(WAN) 229, but may also include other networks. When used in a LANnetworking environment, computing device 201 may be connected to the LAN225 through a network interface or adapter 223. When used in a WANnetworking environment, computing device 201 may include a modem 227 orother wide area network interface for establishing communications overthe WAN 229, such as computer network 230 (e.g., the Internet). It willbe appreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative andother means of establishing a communications link between the computersmay be used. Computing device 201 and/or terminals 240 may also bemobile terminals (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), notebooks, etc.) including various other components,such as a battery, speaker, and antennas (not shown).

Aspects described herein may also be operational with numerous othergeneral purpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of other computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with aspectsdescribed herein include, but are not limited to, personal computers,server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network personal computers (PCs), minicomputers, mainframecomputers, distributed computing environments that include any of theabove systems or devices, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, one or more client devices 240 may be incommunication with one or more servers 206 a-206 n (generally referredto herein as “server(s) 206”). In one embodiment, the computingenvironment 200 may include a network appliance installed between theserver(s) 206 and client machine(s) 240. The network appliance maymanage client/server connections, and in some cases can load balanceclient connections amongst a plurality of backend servers 206.

The client machine(s) 240 may in some embodiments be referred to as asingle client machine 240 or a single group of client machines 240,while server(s) 206 may be referred to as a single server 206 or asingle group of servers 206. In one embodiment a single client machine240 communicates with more than one server 206, while in anotherembodiment a single server 206 communicates with more than one clientmachine 240. In yet another embodiment, a single client machine 240communicates with a single server 206.

A client machine 240 can, in some embodiments, be referenced by any oneof the following non-exhaustive terms: client machine(s); client(s);client computer(s); client device(s); client computing device(s); localmachine; remote machine; client node(s); endpoint(s); or endpointnode(s). The server 206, in some embodiments, may be referenced by anyone of the following non-exhaustive terms: server(s), local machine;remote machine; server farm(s), or host computing device(s).

In one embodiment, the client machine 240 may be a virtual machine. Thevirtual machine may be any virtual machine, while in some embodimentsthe virtual machine may be any virtual machine managed by a Type 1 orType 2 hypervisor, for example, a hypervisor developed by CitrixSystems, IBM, VMware, or any other hypervisor. In some aspects, thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor, while in aspects thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor executing on a server 206or a hypervisor executing on a client 240.

Some embodiments include a client device 240 that displays applicationoutput generated by an application remotely executing on a server 206 orother remotely located machine. In these embodiments, the client device240 may execute a virtual machine receiver program or application todisplay the output in an application window, a browser, or other outputwindow. In one example, the application is a desktop, while in otherexamples the application is an application that generates or presents adesktop. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications, as used herein, areprograms that execute after an instance of an operating system (and,optionally, also the desktop) has been loaded.

The server 206, in some embodiments, uses a remote presentation protocolor other program to send data to a thin-client or remote-displayapplication executing on the client to present display output generatedby an application executing on the server 206. The thin-client orremote-display protocol can be any one of the following non-exhaustivelist of protocols: the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocoldeveloped by Citrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; or the RemoteDesktop Protocol (RDP) manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.

A remote computing environment may include more than one server 206a-206 n such that the servers 206 a-206 n are logically grouped togetherinto a server farm 206, for example, in a cloud computing environment.The server farm 206 may include servers 206 that are geographicallydispersed while and logically grouped together, or servers 206 that arelocated proximate to each other while logically grouped together.Geographically dispersed servers 206 a-206 n within a server farm 206can, in some embodiments, communicate using a WAN (wide), MAN(metropolitan), or LAN (local), where different geographic regions canbe characterized as: different continents; different regions of acontinent; different countries; different states; different cities;different campuses; different rooms; or any combination of the precedinggeographical locations. In some embodiments the server farm 206 may beadministered as a single entity, while in other embodiments the serverfarm 206 can include multiple server farms.

In some embodiments, a server farm may include servers 206 that executea substantially similar type of operating system platform (e.g.,WINDOWS, UNIX, LINUX, iOS, ANDROID, SYMBIAN, etc.) In other embodiments,server farm 206 may include a first group of one or more servers thatexecute a first type of operating system platform, and a second group ofone or more servers that execute a second type of operating systemplatform.

Server 206 may be configured as any type of server, as needed, e.g., afile server, an application server, a web server, a proxy server, anappliance, a network appliance, a gateway, an application gateway, agateway server, a virtualization server, a deployment server, a SecureSockets Layer (SSL) VPN server, a firewall, a web server, an applicationserver or as a master application server, a server executing an activedirectory, or a server executing an application acceleration programthat provides firewall functionality, application functionality, or loadbalancing functionality. Other server types may also be used.

Some embodiments include a first server 106 a that receives requestsfrom a client machine 240, forwards the request to a second server 106b, and responds to the request generated by the client machine 240 witha response from the second server 106 b. First server 106 a may acquirean enumeration of applications available to the client machine 240 andwell as address information associated with an application server 206hosting an application identified within the enumeration ofapplications. First server 106 a can then present a response to theclient's request using a web interface, and communicate directly withthe client 240 to provide the client 240 with access to an identifiedapplication. One or more clients 240 and/or one or more servers 206 maytransmit data over network 230, e.g., network 101.

FIG. 2 shows a high-level architecture of an illustrative desktopvirtualization system. As shown, the desktop virtualization system maybe single-server or multi-server system, or cloud system, including atleast one virtualization server 206 configured to provide virtualdesktops and/or virtual applications to one or more client accessdevices 240. As used herein, a desktop refers to a graphical environmentor space in which one or more applications may be hosted and/orexecuted. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications may include programsthat execute after an instance of an operating system (and, optionally,also the desktop) has been loaded. Each instance of the operating systemmay be physical (e.g., one operating system per device) or virtual(e.g., many instances of an OS running on a single device). Eachapplication may be executed on a local device, or executed on a remotelylocated device (e.g., remoted).

With further reference to FIG. 3, a computer device 301 may beconfigured as a virtualization server in a virtualization environment,for example, a single-server, multi-server, or cloud computingenvironment. Virtualization server 301 illustrated in FIG. 3 can bedeployed as and/or implemented by one or more embodiments of the server206 illustrated in FIG. 2 or by other known computing devices. Includedin virtualization server 301 is a hardware layer that can include one ormore physical disks 304, one or more physical devices 306, one or morephysical processors 308 and one or more physical memories 316. In someembodiments, firmware 312 can be stored within a memory element in thephysical memory 316 and can be executed by one or more of the physicalprocessors 308. Virtualization server 301 may further include anoperating system 314 that may be stored in a memory element in thephysical memory 316 and executed by one or more of the physicalprocessors 308. Still further, a hypervisor 302 may be stored in amemory element in the physical memory 316 and can be executed by one ormore of the physical processors 308.

Executing on one or more of the physical processors 308 may be one ormore virtual machines 332A-C (generally 332). Each virtual machine 332may have a virtual disk 326A-C and a virtual processor 328A-C. In someembodiments, a first virtual machine 332A may execute, using a virtualprocessor 328A, a control program 320 that includes a tools stack 324.Control program 320 may be referred to as a control virtual machine,Dom0, Domain 0, or other virtual machine used for system administrationand/or control. In some embodiments, one or more virtual machines 332B-Ccan execute, using a virtual processor 328B-C, a guest operating system330A-B.

Virtualization server 301 may include a hardware layer 310 with one ormore pieces of hardware that communicate with the virtualization server301. In some embodiments, the hardware layer 310 can include one or morephysical disks 304, one or more physical devices 306, one or morephysical processors 308, and one or more memory 216. Physical components304, 306, 308, and 316 may include, for example, any of the componentsdescribed above. Physical devices 306 may include, for example, anetwork interface card, a video card, a keyboard, a mouse, an inputdevice, a monitor, a display device, speakers, an optical drive, astorage device, a universal serial bus connection, a printer, a scanner,a network element (e.g., router, firewall, network address translator,load balancer, virtual private network (VPN) gateway, Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) router, etc.), or any device connected toor communicating with virtualization server 301. Physical memory 316 inthe hardware layer 310 may include any type of memory. Physical memory316 may store data, and in some embodiments may store one or moreprograms, or set of executable instructions. FIG. 3 illustrates anembodiment where firmware 312 is stored within the physical memory 316of virtualization server 301. Programs or executable instructions storedin the physical memory 316 can be executed by the one or more processors308 of virtualization server 301.

Virtualization server 301 may also include a hypervisor 302. In someembodiments, hypervisor 302 may be a program executed by processors 308on virtualization server 301 to create and manage any number of virtualmachines 332. Hypervisor 302 may be referred to as a virtual machinemonitor, or platform virtualization software. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 can be any combination of executable instructions andhardware that monitors virtual machines executing on a computingmachine. Hypervisor 302 may be Type 2 hypervisor, where the hypervisorthat executes within an operating system 314 executing on thevirtualization server 301. Virtual machines then execute at a levelabove the hypervisor. In some embodiments, the Type 2 hypervisorexecutes within the context of a user's operating system such that theType 2 hypervisor interacts with the user's operating system. In otherembodiments, one or more virtualization servers 201 in a virtualizationenvironment may instead include a Type 1 hypervisor (not shown). A Type1 hypervisor may execute on the virtualization server 301 by directlyaccessing the hardware and resources within the hardware layer 310. Thatis, while a Type 2 hypervisor 302 accesses system resources through ahost operating system 314, as shown, a Type 1 hypervisor may directlyaccess all system resources without the host operating system 314. AType 1 hypervisor may execute directly on one or more physicalprocessors 308 of virtualization server 301, and may include programdata stored in the physical memory 316.

Hypervisor 302, in some embodiments, can provide virtual resources tooperating systems 330 or control programs 320 executing on virtualmachines 332 in any manner that simulates the operating systems 330 orcontrol programs 320 having direct access to system resources. Systemresources can include, but are not limited to, physical devices 306,physical disks 304, physical processors 308, physical memory 316 and anyother component included in virtualization server 301 hardware layer310. Hypervisor 302 may be used to emulate virtual hardware, partitionphysical hardware, virtualize physical hardware, and/or execute virtualmachines that provide access to computing environments. In still otherembodiments, hypervisor 302 controls processor scheduling and memorypartitioning for a virtual machine 332 executing on virtualizationserver 301. Hypervisor 302 may include those manufactured by VMWare,Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif.; the XEN hypervisor, an open source productwhose development is overseen by the open source Xen.org community;HyperV, VirtualServer or virtual PC hypervisors provided by Microsoft,or others. In some embodiments, virtualization server 301 executes ahypervisor 302 that creates a virtual machine platform on which guestoperating systems may execute. In these embodiments, the virtualizationserver 301 may be referred to as a host server. An example of such avirtualization server is the XEN SERVER provided by Citrix Systems,Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Hypervisor 302 may create one or more virtual machines 332B-C (generally332) in which guest operating systems 330 execute. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 may load a virtual machine image to create a virtualmachine 332. In other embodiments, the hypervisor 302 may executes aguest operating system 330 within virtual machine 332. In still otherembodiments, virtual machine 332 may execute guest operating system 330.

In addition to creating virtual machines 332, hypervisor 302 may controlthe execution of at least one virtual machine 332. In other embodiments,hypervisor 302 may presents at least one virtual machine 332 with anabstraction of at least one hardware resource provided by thevirtualization server 301 (e.g., any hardware resource available withinthe hardware layer 310). In other embodiments, hypervisor 302 maycontrol the manner in which virtual machines 332 access physicalprocessors 308 available in virtualization server 301. Controllingaccess to physical processors 308 may include determining whether avirtual machine 332 should have access to a processor 308, and howphysical processor capabilities are presented to the virtual machine332.

As shown in FIG. 3, virtualization server 301 may host or execute one ormore virtual machines 332. A virtual machine 332 is a set of executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor 308, imitate theoperation of a physical computer such that the virtual machine 332 canexecute programs and processes much like a physical computing device.While FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment where a virtualization server 301hosts three virtual machines 332, in other embodiments virtualizationserver 301 can host any number of virtual machines 332. Hypervisor 302,in some embodiments, provides each virtual machine 332 with a uniquevirtual view of the physical hardware, memory, processor and othersystem resources available to that virtual machine 332. In someembodiments, the unique virtual view can be based on one or more ofvirtual machine permissions, application of a policy engine to one ormore virtual machine identifiers, a user accessing a virtual machine,the applications executing on a virtual machine, networks accessed by avirtual machine, or any other desired criteria. For instance, hypervisor302 may create one or more unsecure virtual machines 332 and one or moresecure virtual machines 332. Unsecure virtual machines 332 may beprevented from accessing resources, hardware, memory locations, andprograms that secure virtual machines 332 may be permitted to access. Inother embodiments, hypervisor 302 may provide each virtual machine 332with a substantially similar virtual view of the physical hardware,memory, processor and other system resources available to the virtualmachines 332.

Each virtual machine 332 may include a virtual disk 326A-C (generally326) and a virtual processor 328A-C (generally 328.) The virtual disk326, in some embodiments, is a virtualized view of one or more physicaldisks 304 of the virtualization server 301, or a portion of one or morephysical disks 304 of the virtualization server 301. The virtualizedview of the physical disks 304 can be generated, provided and managed bythe hypervisor 302. In some embodiments, hypervisor 302 provides eachvirtual machine 332 with a unique view of the physical disks 304. Thus,in these embodiments, the particular virtual disk 326 included in eachvirtual machine 332 can be unique when compared with the other virtualdisks 326.

A virtual processor 328 can be a virtualized view of one or morephysical processors 308 of the virtualization server 301. In someembodiments, the virtualized view of the physical processors 308 can begenerated, provided and managed by hypervisor 302. In some embodiments,virtual processor 328 has substantially all of the same characteristicsof at least one physical processor 308. In other embodiments, virtualprocessor 308 provides a modified view of physical processors 308 suchthat at least some of the characteristics of the virtual processor 328are different than the characteristics of the corresponding physicalprocessor 308.

With further reference to FIG. 4, some aspects described herein may beimplemented in a cloud-based environment. FIG. 4 illustrates an exampleof a cloud computing environment (or cloud system) 400. As seen in FIG.4, client computers 411-414 may communicate with a cloud managementserver 410 to access the computing resources (e.g., host servers 403,storage resources 404, and network resources 405) of the cloud system.

Management server 410 may be implemented on one or more physicalservers. The management server 410 may run, for example, CLOUDSTACK byCitrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., or OPENSTACK, amongothers. Management server 410 may manage various computing resources,including cloud hardware and software resources, for example, hostcomputers 403, data storage devices 404, and networking devices 405. Thecloud hardware and software resources may include private and/or publiccomponents. For example, a cloud may be configured as a private cloud tobe used by one or more particular customers or client computers 411-414and/or over a private network. In other embodiments, public clouds orhybrid public-private clouds may be used by other customers over an openor hybrid networks.

Management server 410 may be configured to provide user interfacesthrough which cloud operators and cloud customers may interact with thecloud system. For example, the management server 410 may provide a setof application programming interfaces (APIs) and/or one or more cloudoperator console applications (e.g., web-based on standaloneapplications) with user interfaces to allow cloud operators to managethe cloud resources, configure the virtualization layer, manage customeraccounts, and perform other cloud administration tasks. The managementserver 410 also may include a set of APIs and/or one or more customerconsole applications with user interfaces configured to receive cloudcomputing requests from end users via client computers 411-414, forexample, requests to create, modify, or destroy virtual machines withinthe cloud. Client computers 411-414 may connect to management server 410via the Internet or other communication network, and may request accessto one or more of the computing resources managed by management server410. In response to client requests, the management server 410 mayinclude a resource manager configured to select and provision physicalresources in the hardware layer of the cloud system based on the clientrequests. For example, the management server 410 and additionalcomponents of the cloud system may be configured to provision, create,and manage virtual machines and their operating environments (e.g.,hypervisors, storage resources, services offered by the networkelements, etc.) for customers at client computers 411-414, over anetwork (e.g., the Internet), providing customers with computationalresources, data storage services, networking capabilities, and computerplatform and application support. Cloud systems also may be configuredto provide various specific services, including security systems,development environments, user interfaces, and the like.

Certain clients 411-414 may be related, for example, different clientcomputers creating virtual machines on behalf of the same end user, ordifferent users affiliated with the same company or organization. Inother examples, certain clients 411-414 may be unrelated, such as usersaffiliated with different companies or organizations. For unrelatedclients, information on the virtual machines or storage of any one usermay be hidden from other users.

Referring now to the physical hardware layer of a cloud computingenvironment, availability zones 401-402 (or zones) may refer to acollocated set of physical computing resources. Zones may begeographically separated from other zones in the overall cloud ofcomputing resources. For example, zone 401 may be a first clouddatacenter located in California, and zone 402 may be a second clouddatacenter located in Florida. Management sever 410 may be located atone of the availability zones, or at a separate location. Each zone mayinclude an internal network that interfaces with devices that areoutside of the zone, such as the management server 410, through agateway. End users of the cloud (e.g., clients 411-414) might or mightnot be aware of the distinctions between zones. For example, an end usermay request the creation of a virtual machine having a specified amountof memory, processing power, and network capabilities. The managementserver 410 may respond to the user's request and may allocate theresources to create the virtual machine without the user knowing whetherthe virtual machine was created using resources from zone 401 or zone402. In other examples, the cloud system may allow end users to requestthat virtual machines (or other cloud resources) are allocated in aspecific zone or on specific resources 403-405 within a zone.

In this example, each zone 401-402 may include an arrangement of variousphysical hardware components (or computing resources) 403-405, forexample, physical hosting resources (or processing resources), physicalnetwork resources, physical storage resources, switches, and additionalhardware resources that may be used to provide cloud computing servicesto customers. The physical hosting resources in a cloud zone 401-402 mayinclude one or more computer servers 403, such as the virtualizationservers 301 described above, which may be configured to create and hostvirtual machine instances. The physical network resources in a cloudzone 401 or 402 may include one or more network elements 405 (e.g.,network service providers) comprising hardware and/or softwareconfigured to provide a network service to cloud customers, such asfirewalls, network address translators, load balancers, virtual privatenetwork (VPN) gateways, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)routers, and the like. The storage resources in the cloud zone 401-402may include storage disks (e.g., solid state drives (SSDs), magnetichard disks, etc.) and other storage devices.

The example cloud computing environment shown in FIG. 4 also may includea virtualization layer (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 1-3) with additionalhardware and/or software resources configured to create and managevirtual machines and provide other services to customers using thephysical resources in the cloud. The virtualization layer may includehypervisors, as described above in FIG. 3, along with other componentsto provide network virtualizations, storage virtualizations, etc. Thevirtualization layer may be as a separate layer from the physicalresource layer, or may share some or all of the same hardware and/orsoftware resources with the physical resource layer. For example, thevirtualization layer may include a hypervisor installed in each of thevirtualization servers 403 with the physical computing resources. Knowncloud systems may alternatively be used, e.g., WINDOWS AZURE (MicrosoftCorporation of Redmond Wash.), AMAZON EC2 (Amazon.com Inc. of Seattle,Wash.), IBM BLUE CLOUD (IBM Corporation of Armonk, N.Y.), or others.

Enterprise Mobility Management Architecture

FIG. 5 represents an enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 foruse in a BYOD environment. The architecture enables a user of a mobiledevice 502 to both access enterprise or personal resources from a mobiledevice 502 and use the mobile device 502 for personal use. The user mayaccess such enterprise resources 504 or enterprise services 508 using amobile device 502 that is purchased by the user or a mobile device 502that is provided by the enterprise to user. The user may utilize themobile device 502 for business use only or for business and personaluse. The mobile device may run an iOS operating system, and Androidoperating system, or the like. The enterprise may choose to implementpolicies to manage the mobile device 504. The policies may be implantedthrough a firewall or gateway in such a way that the mobile device maybe identified, secured or security verified, and provided selective orfull access to the enterprise resources. The policies may be mobiledevice management policies, mobile application management policies,mobile data management policies, or some combination of mobile device,application, and data management policies. A mobile device 504 that ismanaged through the application of mobile device management policies maybe referred to as an enrolled device.

In some embodiments, the operating system of the mobile device may beseparated into a managed partition 510 and an unmanaged partition 512.The managed partition 510 may have policies applied to it to secure theapplications running on and data stored in the managed partition. Theapplications running on the managed partition may be secureapplications. In other embodiments, all applications may execute inaccordance with a set of one or more policy files received separate fromthe application, and which define one or more security parameters,features, resource restrictions, and/or other access controls that areenforced by the mobile device management system when that application isexecuting on the device. By operating in accordance with theirrespective policy file(s), each application may be allowed or restrictedfrom communications with one or more other applications and/orresources, thereby creating a virtual partition. Thus, as used herein, apartition may refer to a physically partitioned portion of memory(physical partition), a logically partitioned portion of memory (logicalpartition), and/or a virtual partition created as a result ofenforcement of one or more policies and/or policy files across multipleapps as described herein (virtual partition). Stated differently, byenforcing policies on managed apps, those apps may be restricted to onlybe able to communicate with other managed apps and trusted enterpriseresources, thereby creating a virtual partition that is impenetrable byunmanaged apps and devices.

The secure applications may be email applications, web browsingapplications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) access applications, WindowsApplication access applications, and the like. The secure applicationsmay be secure native applications 514, secure remote applications 522executed by a secure application launcher 518, virtualizationapplications 526 executed by a secure application launcher 518, and thelike. The secure native applications 514 may be wrapped by a secureapplication wrapper 520. The secure application wrapper 520 may includeintegrated policies that are executed on the mobile device 502 when thesecure native application is executed on the device. The secureapplication wrapper 520 may include meta-data that points the securenative application 514 running on the mobile device 502 to the resourceshosted at the enterprise that the secure native application 514 mayrequire to complete the task requested upon execution of the securenative application 514. The secure remote applications 522 executed by asecure application launcher 518 may be executed within the secureapplication launcher application 518. The virtualization applications526 executed by a secure application launcher 518 may utilize resourceson the mobile device 502, at the enterprise resources 504, and the like.The resources used on the mobile device 502 by the virtualizationapplications 526 executed by a secure application launcher 518 mayinclude user interaction resources, processing resources, and the like.The user interaction resources may be used to collect and transmitkeyboard input, mouse input, camera input, tactile input, audio input,visual input, gesture input, and the like. The processing resources maybe used to present a user interface, process data received from theenterprise resources 504, and the like. The resources used at theenterprise resources 504 by the virtualization applications 526 executedby a secure application launcher 518 may include user interfacegeneration resources, processing resources, and the like. The userinterface generation resources may be used to assemble a user interface,modify a user interface, refresh a user interface, and the like. Theprocessing resources may be used to create information, readinformation, update information, delete information, and the like. Forexample, the virtualization application may record user interactionsassociated with a graphical user interface (GUI) and communicate them toa server application where the server application will use the userinteraction data as an input to the application operating on the server.In this arrangement, an enterprise may elect to maintain the applicationon the server side as well as data, files, etc. associated with theapplication. While an enterprise may elect to “mobilize” someapplications in accordance with the principles herein by securing themfor deployment on the mobile device, this arrangement may also beelected for certain applications. For example, while some applicationsmay be secured for use on the mobile device, others might not beprepared or appropriate for deployment on the mobile device so theenterprise may elect to provide the mobile user access to the unpreparedapplications through virtualization techniques. As another example, theenterprise may have large complex applications with large and complexdata sets (e.g., material resource planning applications) where it wouldbe very difficult, or otherwise undesirable, to customize theapplication for the mobile device so the enterprise may elect to provideaccess to the application through virtualization techniques. As yetanother example, the enterprise may have an application that maintainshighly secured data (e.g., human resources data, customer data,engineering data) that may be deemed by the enterprise as too sensitivefor even the secured mobile environment so the enterprise may elect touse virtualization techniques to permit mobile access to suchapplications and data. An enterprise may elect to provide both fullysecured and fully functional applications on the mobile device as wellas a virtualization application to allow access to applications that aredeemed more properly operated on the server side. In an embodiment, thevirtualization application may store some data, files, etc. on themobile phone in one of the secure storage locations. An enterprise, forexample, may elect to allow certain information to be stored on thephone while not permitting other information.

In connection with the virtualization application, as described herein,the mobile device may have a virtualization application that is designedto present GUIs and then record user interactions with the GUI. Theapplication may communicate the user interactions to the server side tobe used by the server side application as user interactions with theapplication. In response, the application on the server side maytransmit back to the mobile device a new GUI. For example, the new GUImay be a static page, a dynamic page, an animation, or the like, therebyproviding access to remotely located resources.

The secure applications may access data stored in a secure datacontainer 528 in the managed partition 510 of the mobile device. Thedata secured in the secure data container may be accessed by the securewrapped applications 514, applications executed by a secure applicationlauncher 522, virtualization applications 526 executed by a secureapplication launcher 522, and the like. The data stored in the securedata container 528 may include files, databases, and the like. The datastored in the secure data container 528 may include data restricted to aspecific secure application 530, shared among secure applications 532,and the like. Data restricted to a secure application may include securegeneral data 534 and highly secure data 538. Secure general data may usea strong form of encryption such as Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)128-bit encryption or the like, while highly secure data 538 may use avery strong form of encryption such as AES 256-bit encryption. Datastored in the secure data container 528 may be deleted from the deviceupon receipt of a command from the device manager 524. The secureapplications may have a dual-mode option 540. The dual mode option 540may present the user with an option to operate the secured applicationin an unsecured or unmanaged mode. In an unsecured or unmanaged mode,the secure applications may access data stored in an unsecured datacontainer 542 on the unmanaged partition 512 of the mobile device 502.The data stored in an unsecured data container may be personal data 544.The data stored in an unsecured data container 542 may also be accessedby unsecured applications 548 that are running on the unmanagedpartition 512 of the mobile device 502. The data stored in an unsecureddata container 542 may remain on the mobile device 502 when the datastored in the secure data container 528 is deleted from the mobiledevice 502. An enterprise may want to delete from the mobile deviceselected or all data, files, and/or applications owned, licensed orcontrolled by the enterprise (enterprise data) while leaving orotherwise preserving personal data, files, and/or applications owned,licensed or controlled by the user (personal data). This operation maybe referred to as a selective wipe. With the enterprise and personaldata arranged in accordance to the aspects described herein, anenterprise may perform a selective wipe.

The mobile device may connect to enterprise resources 504 and enterpriseservices 508 at an enterprise, to the public Internet 548, and the like.The mobile device may connect to enterprise resources 504 and enterpriseservices 508 through virtual private network connections. The virtualprivate network connections, also referred to as microVPN orapplication-specific VPN, may be specific to particular applications550, particular devices, particular secured areas on the mobile device,and the like 552. For example, each of the wrapped applications in thesecured area of the phone may access enterprise resources through anapplication specific VPN such that access to the VPN would be grantedbased on attributes associated with the application, possibly inconjunction with user or device attribute information. The virtualprivate network connections may carry Microsoft Exchange traffic,Microsoft Active Directory traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) traffic, applicationmanagement traffic, and the like. The virtual private networkconnections may support and enable single-sign-on authenticationprocesses 554. The single-sign-on processes may allow a user to providea single set of authentication credentials, which are then verified byan authentication service 558. The authentication service 558 may thengrant to the user access to multiple enterprise resources 504, withoutrequiring the user to provide authentication credentials to eachindividual enterprise resource 504.

The virtual private network connections may be established and managedby an access gateway 560. The access gateway 560 may include performanceenhancement features that manage, accelerate, and improve the deliveryof enterprise resources 504 to the mobile device 502. The access gatewaymay also re-route traffic from the mobile device 502 to the publicInternet 548, enabling the mobile device 502 to access publiclyavailable and unsecured applications that run on the public Internet548. The mobile device may connect to the access gateway via a transportnetwork 562. The transport network 562 may be a wired network, wirelessnetwork, cloud network, local area network, metropolitan area network,wide area network, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise resources 504 may include email servers, file sharingservers, SaaS applications, Web application servers, Windows applicationservers, and the like. Email servers may include Exchange servers, LotusNotes servers, and the like. File sharing servers may include ShareFileservers, and the like. SaaS applications may include Salesforce, and thelike. Windows application servers may include any application serverthat is built to provide applications that are intended to run on alocal Windows operating system, and the like. The enterprise resources504 may be premise-based resources, cloud based resources, and the like.The enterprise resources 504 may be accessed by the mobile device 502directly or through the access gateway 560. The enterprise resources 504may be accessed by the mobile device 502 via a transport network 562.The transport network 562 may be a wired network, wireless network,cloud network, local area network, metropolitan area network, wide areanetwork, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise services 508 may include authentication services 558,threat detection services 564, device manager services 524, file sharingservices 568, policy manager services 570, social integration services572, application controller services 574, and the like. Authenticationservices 558 may include user authentication services, deviceauthentication services, application authentication services, dataauthentication services and the like. Authentication services 558 mayuse certificates. The certificates may be stored on the mobile device502, by the enterprise resources 504, and the like. The certificatesstored on the mobile device 502 may be stored in an encrypted locationon the mobile device, the certificate may be temporarily stored on themobile device 502 for use at the time of authentication, and the like.Threat detection services 564 may include intrusion detection services,unauthorized access attempt detection services, and the like.Unauthorized access attempt detection services may include unauthorizedattempts to access devices, applications, data, and the like. Devicemanagement services 524 may include configuration, provisioning,security, support, monitoring, reporting, and decommissioning services.File sharing services 568 may include file management services, filestorage services, file collaboration services, and the like. Policymanager services 570 may include device policy manager services,application policy manager services, data policy manager services, andthe like. Social integration services 572 may include contactintegration services, collaboration services, integration with socialnetworks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and the like.Application controller services 574 may include management services,provisioning services, deployment services, assignment services,revocation services, wrapping services, and the like.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 may include anapplication store 578. The application store 578 may include unwrappedapplications 580, pre-wrapped applications 582, and the like.Applications may be populated in the application store 578 from theapplication controller 574. The application store 578 may be accessed bythe mobile device 502 through the access gateway 560, through the publicInternet 548, or the like. The application store may be provided with anintuitive and easy to use User Interface.

A software development kit 584 may provide a user the capability tosecure applications selected by the user by wrapping the application asdescribed previously in this description. An application that has beenwrapped using the software development kit 584 may then be madeavailable to the mobile device 502 by populating it in the applicationstore 578 using the application controller 574.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 may include amanagement and analytics capability 588. The management and analyticscapability 588 may provide information related to how resources areused, how often resources are used, and the like. Resources may includedevices, applications, data, and the like. How resources are used mayinclude which devices download which applications, which applicationsaccess which data, and the like. How often resources are used mayinclude how often an application has been downloaded, how many times aspecific set of data has been accessed by an application, and the like.

FIG. 6 is another illustrative enterprise mobility management system600. Some of the components of the mobility management system 500described above with reference to FIG. 5 have been omitted for the sakeof simplicity. The architecture of the system 600 depicted in FIG. 6 issimilar in many respects to the architecture of the system 500 describedabove with reference to FIG. 5 and may include additional features notmentioned above.

In this case, the left hand side represents an enrolled mobile device602 with a client agent 604, which interacts with gateway server 606(which includes Access Gateway and application controller functionality)to access various enterprise resources 608 and services 609 such asExchange, Sharepoint, public-key infrastructure (PKI) Resources,Kerberos Resources, Certificate Issuance service, as shown on the righthand side above. Although not specifically shown, the mobile device 602may also interact with an enterprise application store (StoreFront) forthe selection and downloading of applications.

The client agent 604 acts as the UI (user interface) intermediary forWindows apps/desktops hosted in an Enterprise data center, which areaccessed using the High-Definition User Experience (HDX)/ICA displayremoting protocol. The client agent 604 also supports the installationand management of native applications on the mobile device 602, such asnative iOS or Android applications. For example, the managedapplications 610 (mail, browser, wrapped application) shown in thefigure above are all native applications that execute locally on thedevice. Client agent 604 and application management framework of thisarchitecture act to provide policy driven management capabilities andfeatures such as connectivity and SSO (single sign on) to enterpriseresources/services 608. The client agent 604 handles primary userauthentication to the enterprise, normally to Access Gateway (AG) withSSO to other gateway server components. The client agent 604 obtainspolicies from gateway server 606 to control the behavior of the managedapplications 610 on the mobile device 602.

The secure interprocess communication (IPC) links 612 between the nativeapplications 610 and client agent 604 represent a management channel,which allows client agent to supply policies to be enforced by theapplication management framework 614 “wrapping” each application. TheIPC channel 612 also allows client agent 604 to supply credential andauthentication information that enables connectivity and SSO toenterprise resources 608. Finally the IPC channel 612 allows theapplication management framework 614 to invoke user interface functionsimplemented by client agent 604, such as online and offlineauthentication.

Communications between the client agent 604 and gateway server 606 areessentially an extension of the management channel from the applicationmanagement framework 614 wrapping each native managed application 610.The application management framework 614 requests policy informationfrom client agent 604, which in turn requests it from gateway server606. The application management framework 614 requests authentication,and client agent 604 logs into the gateway services part of gatewayserver 606 (also known as NetScaler Access Gateway). Client agent 604may also call supporting services on gateway server 606, which mayproduce input material to derive encryption keys for the local datavaults 616, or provide client certificates which may enable directauthentication to PKI protected resources, as more fully explainedbelow.

In more detail, the application management framework 614 “wraps” eachmanaged application 610. This may be incorporated via an explicit buildstep, or via a post-build processing step. The application managementframework 614 may “pair” with client agent 604 on first launch of anapplication 610 to initialize the Secure IPC channel and obtain thepolicy for that application. The application management framework 614may enforce relevant portions of the policy that apply locally, such asthe client agent login dependencies and some of the containment policiesthat restrict how local OS services may be used, or how they mayinteract with the application 610.

The application management framework 614 may use services provided byclient agent 604 over the Secure IPC channel 612 to facilitateauthentication and internal network access. Key management for theprivate and shared data vaults 616 (containers) may be also managed byappropriate interactions between the managed applications 610 and clientagent 604. Vaults 616 may be available only after online authentication,or may be made available after offline authentication if allowed bypolicy. First use of vaults 616 may require online authentication, andoffline access may be limited to at most the policy refresh periodbefore online authentication is again required.

Network access to internal resources may occur directly from individualmanaged applications 610 through Access Gateway 606. The applicationmanagement framework 614 is responsible for orchestrating the networkaccess on behalf of each application 610. Client agent 604 mayfacilitate these network connections by providing suitable time limitedsecondary credentials obtained following online authentication. Multiplemodes of network connection may be used, such as reverse web proxyconnections and end-to-end VPN-style tunnels 618.

The Mail and Browser managed applications 610 have special status andmay make use of facilities that might not be generally available toarbitrary wrapped applications. For example, the Mail application mayuse a special background network access mechanism that allows it toaccess Exchange over an extended period of time without requiring a fullAG logon. The Browser application may use multiple private data vaultsto segregate different kinds of data.

This architecture supports the incorporation of various other securityfeatures. For example, gateway server 606 (including its gatewayservices) in some cases will not need to validate active directory (AD)passwords. It can be left to the discretion of an enterprise whether anAD password is used as an authentication factor for some users in somesituations. Different authentication methods may be used if a user isonline or offline (i.e., connected or not connected to a network).

Step up authentication is a feature wherein gateway server 606 mayidentify managed native applications 610 that are allowed to have accessto highly classified data requiring strong authentication, and ensurethat access to these applications is only permitted after performingappropriate authentication, even if this means a re-authentication isrequired by the user after a prior weaker level of login.

Another security feature of this solution is the encryption of the datavaults 616 (containers) on the mobile device 602. The vaults 616 may beencrypted so that all on-device data including files, databases, andconfigurations are protected. For on-line vaults, the keys may be storedon the server (gateway server 606), and for off-line vaults, a localcopy of the keys may be protected by a user password or biometricvalidation. When data is stored locally on the device 602 in the securecontainer 616, it is preferred that a minimum of AES 256 encryptionalgorithm be utilized.

Other secure container features may also be implemented. For example, alogging feature may be included, wherein all security events happeninginside an application 610 are logged and reported to the backend. Datawiping may be supported, such as if the application 610 detectstampering, associated encryption keys may be written over with randomdata, leaving no hint on the file system that user data was destroyed.Screenshot protection is another feature, where an application mayprevent any data from being stored in screenshots. For example, the keywindow's hidden property may be set to YES. This may cause whatevercontent is currently displayed on the screen to be hidden, resulting ina blank screenshot where any content would normally reside.

Local data transfer may be prevented, such as by preventing any datafrom being locally transferred outside the application container, e.g.,by copying it or sending it to an external application. A keyboard cachefeature may operate to disable the autocorrect functionality forsensitive text fields. SSL certificate validation may be operable so theapplication specifically validates the server SSL certificate instead ofit being stored in the keychain. An encryption key generation featuremay be used such that the key used to encrypt data on the device isgenerated using a passphrase or biometric data supplied by the user (ifoffline access is required). It may be XORed with another key randomlygenerated and stored on the server side if offline access is notrequired. Key Derivation functions may operate such that keys generatedfrom the user password use KDFs (key derivation functions, notablyPassword-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2)) rather than creatinga cryptographic hash of it. The latter makes a key susceptible to bruteforce or dictionary attacks.

Further, one or more initialization vectors may be used in encryptionmethods. An initialization vector will cause multiple copies of the sameencrypted data to yield different cipher text output, preventing bothreplay and cryptanalytic attacks. This will also prevent an attackerfrom decrypting any data even with a stolen encryption key if thespecific initialization vector used to encrypt the data is not known.Further, authentication then decryption may be used, wherein applicationdata is decrypted only after the user has authenticated within theapplication. Another feature may relate to sensitive data in memory,which may be kept in memory (and not in disk) only when it's needed. Forexample, login credentials may be wiped from memory after login, andencryption keys and other data inside objective-C instance variables arenot stored, as they may be easily referenced. Instead, memory may bemanually allocated for these.

An inactivity timeout may be implemented, wherein after a policy-definedperiod of inactivity, a user session is terminated.

Data leakage from the application management framework 614 may beprevented in other ways. For example, when an application 610 is put inthe background, the memory may be cleared after a predetermined(configurable) time period. When backgrounded, a snapshot may be takenof the last displayed screen of the application to fasten theforegrounding process. The screenshot may contain confidential data andhence should be cleared.

Another security feature relates to the use of an OTP (one timepassword) 620 without the use of an AD (active directory) 622 passwordfor access to one or more applications. In some cases, some users do notknow (or are not permitted to know) their AD password, so these usersmay authenticate using an OTP 620 such as by using a hardware OTP systemlike SecurID (OTPs may be provided by different vendors also, such asEntrust or Gemalto). In some cases, after a user authenticates with auser ID, a text is sent to the user with an OTP 620. In some cases, thismay be implemented only for online use, with a prompt being a singlefield.

An offline password may be implemented for offline authentication forthose applications 610 for which offline use is permitted via enterprisepolicy. For example, an enterprise may want StoreFront to be accessed inthis manner. In this case, the client agent 604 may require the user toset a custom offline password and the AD password is not used. Gatewayserver 606 may provide policies to control and enforce passwordstandards with respect to the minimum length, character classcomposition, and age of passwords, such as described by the standardWindows Server password complexity requirements, although theserequirements may be modified.

Another feature relates to the enablement of a client side certificatefor certain applications 610 as secondary credentials (for the purposeof accessing PKI protected web resources via the application managementframework micro VPN feature). For example, an application may utilizesuch a certificate. In this case, certificate-based authentication usingActiveSync protocol may be supported, wherein a certificate from theclient agent 604 may be retrieved by gateway server 606 and used in akeychain. Each managed application may have one associated clientcertificate, identified by a label that is defined in gateway server606.

Gateway server 606 may interact with an Enterprise special purpose webservice to support the issuance of client certificates to allow relevantmanaged applications to authenticate to internal PKI protectedresources.

The client agent 604 and the application management framework 614 may beenhanced to support obtaining and using client certificates forauthentication to internal PKI protected network resources. More thanone certificate may be supported, such as to match various levels ofsecurity and/or separation requirements. The certificates may be used bythe Mail and Browser managed applications, and ultimately by arbitrarywrapped applications (provided those applications use web service stylecommunication patterns where it is reasonable for the applicationmanagement framework to mediate https requests).

Application management client certificate support on iOS may rely onimporting a public-key cryptography standards (PKCS) 12 BLOB (BinaryLarge Object) into the iOS keychain in each managed application for eachperiod of use. Application management framework client certificatesupport may use a HTTPS implementation with private in-memory keystorage. The client certificate will never be present in the iOSkeychain and will not be persisted except potentially in “online-only”data value that is strongly protected.

Mutual SSL may also be implemented to provide additional security byrequiring that a mobile device 602 is authenticated to the enterprise,and vice versa. Virtual smart cards for authentication to gateway server606 may also be implemented.

Both limited and full Kerberos support may be additional features. Thefull support feature relates to an ability to do full Kerberos login toActive Directory (AD) 622, using an AD password or trusted clientcertificate, and obtain Kerberos service tickets to respond to HTTPNegotiate authentication challenges. The limited support feature relatesto constrained delegation in Citrix Access Gateway Enterprise Edition(AGEE), where AGEE supports invoking Kerberos protocol transition so itcan obtain and use Kerberos service tickets (subject to constraineddelegation) in response to HTTP Negotiate authentication challenges.This mechanism works in reverse web proxy (aka corporate virtual privatenetwork (CVPN)) mode, and when http (but not https) connections areproxied in VPN and MicroVPN mode.

Another feature relates to application container locking and wiping,which may automatically occur upon jail-break or rooting detections, andoccur as a pushed command from administration console, and may include aremote wipe functionality even when an application 610 is not running.

A multi-site architecture or configuration of enterprise applicationstore and an application controller may be supported that allows usersto be service from one of several different locations in case offailure.

In some cases, managed applications 610 may be allowed to access acertificate and private key via an API (example OpenSSL). Trustedmanaged applications 610 of an enterprise may be allowed to performspecific Public Key operations with an application's client certificateand private key. Various use cases may be identified and treatedaccordingly, such as when an application behaves like a browser and nocertificate access is required, when an application reads a certificatefor “who am I,” when an application uses the certificate to build asecure session token, and when an application uses private keys fordigital signing of important data (e.g. transaction log) or fortemporary data encryption.

Determining the Location of a Target and Navigating to the Target

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative system 700 for location detection andnavigation in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein. The system 700 may include one or more user devices, such as afirst device 702 and a second device 704. Each of the user devices 702and 704 may comprise any of the client devices previously described,such as terminals 240, client computers 411-414, mobile device 502, ormobile device 602. Each of the user devices 702 and 704 may also includea client application 710, such as the client agent 604 or any othermanaged and/or trusted application. For example, the application 710 maycomprise a messaging or a calendar application used to send messages toother devices or manage a user's schedule. The system 700 may includeone or more indoor locations 706, which may be inside of a building,such as an office building, a home, a retail building, conventioncenter, a high rise building, etc. The location 706 may comprise aparticular location within the building, such as a meeting or conferenceroom, an office, a cubicle, a hallway, a bathroom, a reception desk, orany other location within the building whether or not separated byphysical barriers, such as doors and walls.

The system may also include several location sensors 708 placedthroughout the building. The location sensors 708 may compriseshort-range wireless location sensors, such as Bluetooth (includingBluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), Near Field Communication (NFC),Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Infrared (IR), or any otherindoor location sensors. The location sensors 708 may be used todetermine the location of the devices 702 and 704 and the location 706within the building. For example, the devices 702 and 704 or thelocation 706 may communicate with the location sensors 708 to determinetheir respective location.

The system 700 may also include a map server 712. The map server 712 maycomprise any of the servers previously described, such as the computingdevice 201, server 206, virtualization server 301, management server410, enterprise resources 504, enterprise services 508, access gateway560, or gateway server 606. The map server 712 may store a plurality ofmaps (e.g., floor layouts) for one or more buildings having locationsensors 708. The map server 712 may store layouts for each floor in thebuilding. The map server 712 may also store navigation information foreach building. The navigation information may include directions (e.g.,go straight, turn left, turn right, etc.) for navigating from one pointin the building to another. The navigation information may also includethe distance between each point in the building, and the units may be infeet, meters, or any other metric for measuring distance. The navigationinformation may also include the estimated amount of time to walkbetween each point in the building. For example, the navigationinformation may identify the amount of time to walk from point A topoint B. If the route includes multiple segments, the amount of time towalk each segment may be included in the map server 712. For example, apath from point A to point X may include these three segments: point Ato point B, point B to point T, and point T to point X. The map server712 may store the estimated amount of time for each of these segments.The map server 712 may also store, as the estimated amount of time toget from point A to point X, the sum of the amounts of time for thethree segments. The navigation information may also include the amountof time to travel from one floor to another floor in the building. Theamount of time between floors may be predetermined and added to the mapserver 712. For example, an administrator of the map server 712 mayenter 2 minutes to travel from the first floor to the second floor viaelevator (or 3 minutes via stairs), 3 minutes to travel from the firstfloor to the third floor via elevator (or 5 minutes via stairs), etc.The administrator may enter the amount of time for each combination offloors in the building for each method of travelling between floors(e.g., elevator, escalator, stairs, ramp, etc.).

The system 700 may include a notification server 714. The notificationserver may comprise any of the servers previously described, such as thecomputing device 201, server 206, virtualization server 301, managementserver 410, enterprise resources 504, enterprise services 508, accessgateway 560, or gateway server 606. The notification server 714 maycommunicate with devices 702 and/or 704, such as via the clientapplication 710 of each device. The notification server 714 may pushnotifications and other messages, such as calendar events, textmessages, email messages, etc., to the devices 702 and/or 704. In someaspects, the devices 702 and/or 704 may also pull information from thenotification server 714. The notification server 714 may comprise adevice in the cloud.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example method of sharing a target location with adevice 702 in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein. The target location may be the location of a second device 704and/or the location of an event, such as a meeting. The methodillustrated in FIG. 8 may provide a user of the device 702 a one-clickoption to request the location of a colleague and also assist thecolleague in sharing his or her location. In step 805, the device 702may wait to receive, from a user of the device 702, a request to findthe location of a target, such as the location of the device 704 (whichmay be associated with the colleague). The client application 710 maygenerate a button (e.g., a touchscreen button or other button) fordisplay on the device 702. The button may allow the user to request thelocation of the colleague or another contact.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example display screen 900 for displaying a listof contacts in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein. The user may select one of the contacts, such asColleague 1 (identified by reference number 905). In some aspects,selecting Colleague 1 from the display screen 900 may cause the device702 to send a request for the device 704 to share its location with thedevice 702. Selecting Colleague 1 may additionally or alternativelydisplay more options for interacting with Colleague 1.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example display screen 1000 for displayingoptions for interacting with a contact, such as Colleague 1, inaccordance with one or more illustrative aspects described herein.Display screen 1000 may be displayed if the user selects Colleague 1 indisplay screen 900. The user may be presented with options to send anemail to Colleague 1 (1005), call Colleague 1 from the device 702 (whichmay be a mobile phone) (1010), and/or find Colleague 1 (1015). Thedevice 702 may determine that the user desires to find colleague 1 ifthe user selects the find option 1015.

Returning to FIG. 8, in step 810, the device 702 may send a request tothe device 704 for the device 704 to share its location. The request maybe sent in response to the user of the device 702 selecting one of thefind colleague options illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. The device 702 mayutilize the client application 710 to send the request, and the clientapplication 710 may send the request to the notification server 714. Thenotification server 714 may forward the request to the device 704. Forexample, the notification server 714 may send a push notification to thedevice 704 or a client application of the device 704 (not illustrated).In response to receiving the request, the device 704 may display aprompt to the user of the device 704 for the user to share his or herlocation with the user of the device 702.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example display screen 1100 for requesting thelocation of a target (e.g., the location of device 704) in accordancewith one or more illustrative aspects described herein. The device 704may display a message 1105 (e.g., a notification) requesting the user ofthe device 704 to grant the device 704 permission to share its locationwith the device 702. The message 1105 may identify the requester (e.g.,an identifier for the device 702 or an identifier for the user of thedevice 702, such as Jane Doe). The message 1105 may comprise, forexample, a text message, an email message, and/or a message displayed byone of the applications on the device 704. The message 1105 may providean option 1110 for the user to view more details or to share his or herlocation with the user of the device 702.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example display screen 1200 for sharing thelocation of the target (e.g., the location of device 704) in accordancewith one or more illustrative aspects described herein. The displayscreen 1200 may display an option 1205 to deny permission to share thedevice 704's location. The display screen 1200 may also display anoption 1210 to grant permission to share the location. The options 1205and 1210 may be displayed in the application 710 itself and/or a lockscreen of the device 704. FIG. 12 illustrates the scenario where theuser has selected the option to grant permission to share the locationof device 704, as indicated by the highlighting of option 1210.

Returning to FIG. 8, in step 815, the device 702 and/or the device 704may determine whether the user of the device 704 has granted permissionto share the location of device 704 with the device 702. If, forexample, the user of the device 704 decides not to share his or herlocation (e.g., by selecting the deny location sharing option 1205 inFIG. 12), the device 704, in step 830, may send a message to the device702 indicating that the request has been denied. On the other hand, ifthe user of the device 704 selects the grant location sharing option1210, the method may proceed to step 820.

In some aspects, the user of the device 704 may enable location sharingon the device 704. In these examples, the device 704 might not need towait for the user to grant permission to share the location of device704. Instead, the device 704 may automatically share its location withthe device 702 in response to a request by the device 702 for thelocation of the device 704. In yet additional aspects, the device 704may initiate location sharing with the device 702. For example, the userof device 704 may desire to invite the user of device 702 to his or herlocation. The device 704 may display an option for its user to share thelocation of the device 704 with the device 702, and the user of device704 may select this option rather than waiting to receive a request forlocation sharing from the device 702.

In step 820, the device 704 may determine its location by communicatingwith one or more location sensors 708 at its location. The locationsensor(s) 708 may notify the device 704 of its current location, such asa particular room or location in the building. In some aspects, theinformation sent by the location sensor(s) 708 to the device 704 maycomprise an identifier for that room or location. For example, alocation sensor in Conference Room 1 (a conference room) may use thename of the conference room (Conference Room 1) as the identifier. Thelocation sensor may use any other alphanumeric identifier, such asConf_R_1, AT7ZU3, or other identifier that distinguishes Conference Room1 from other rooms or areas in the same building. The device 704 mayreceive a location identifier from one or several location sensors 708.All of the location sensors 708 at one location may have the sameidentifier (e.g., Conf_R_1) or each location sensor may have a differentidentifier (e.g., Conf_R_1_1 for the first location sensor, Conf_R_1_2for the second location sensor, etc.). The device 704 may send thelocation information to the device 702 (or the application 710 of thedevice 702). In step 825, the device 702 may similarly determine itslocation (e.g., using one or more location sensors 708 as describedabove). As will be described below with reference to FIG. 19, the device702 may send its location information and the location information forthe device 704 to the map server 712 in order to navigate the device 702to the location of the device 704.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example method of determining the location of anevent and generating a notification of the event in accordance with oneor more illustrative aspects described herein. In step 1305, the device702 may optionally generate a notification for an event. FIG. 14illustrates an example display screen 1400 for displaying an eventnotification 1405 in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein. The device 702 may display the event notification 1405a predetermined amount of time prior to the event (e.g., a DevelopmentMeeting), such as 15 minutes prior to the Development Meeting.

Returning to FIG. 13, in step 1310, the device 702 may determine thelocation of the event. For example, the event may be located at location706 illustrated in FIG. 7. The location 706 of the event may bedetermined using one or more location sensor(s) 708 at the location 706.For example, a transmitting/receiving (TX/RX) device may be located atthe location 706 and be in communication with the location sensors 708at the location 706. The TX/RX device may comprise, for example, alaptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet, a dedicated speakerphone,a display, a remote control for the display and/or the speakerphone, acamera, or any other device capable of wirelessly receiving locationinformation from the location sensor(s) 708 at the location 706.Alternatively, the TX/RX device may be integrated with the locationsensor(s) 708, and a separate TX/RX device might not be used. The TX/RXdevice may send the location information received from one or morelocation sensor(s) 708 to the device 702 (e.g., via the clientapplication 710).

Additionally or alternatively, the device 702 may determine the location706 of the event based on the event data field for the event in acalendar application on the device 702. FIG. 16 (which will be describedlater) illustrates an exemplary event data field 1605. For example, thedevice 702 may send the text in the event data field 1605 to a serverstoring event information, and the server may return the correspondingevent based on the text information. Metadata included in the eventinvite or appointment may also identify the location of the event (e.g.,based on a unique identifier for the location 706 and/or a locationsensor 708 at the location 706, such as Conference Room 1, Conf_R_1,AT7ZU3, etc., as previously described). If location metadata is includedin the event invite or appointment, the device 702 might not communicatewith the server to determine the location of 706 of the event.

In step 1315, the device 702 may also determine its location using oneor more location sensors 708 at its location. The device 702 determiningits location may be similar to step 825 previously described.

In step 1320, the device 702 may determine whether it is within range ofthe event location 706. If the user of the device 702 is too far from(e.g., is outside the range of) the event location 706 (step 1320: N),the device 702, in step 1325, may initiate and/or generate a virtualconnection to the event rather than navigate the user to the eventbecause the user might not make it to the event on time. The device 702may display dial-in details or other teleconference or Web connectiondetails for the user to virtually connect to the event. If the user isnot too far from (e.g., is inside the range of) the event location 706(step 1320: Y), the device 702 may proceed to step 1330, as will bedescribed below. In some aspects, the range may be predetermined, suchas within the same building, within the same group of buildings (e.g.,buildings owned or occupied by the same company), within the same city(e.g., both the device 702 and event are located in Santa Clara,Calif.), or within a predetermined distance from the event location 706(e.g., 0.5 miles).

In some aspects, the range used by the device 702 may depend on thenotification period displayed on the device 702 in step 1305. Forexample, assume that the device 702 displays a notification for theevent 15 minutes prior to the start of the event, as illustrated in FIG.14. The device 702 may determine how long it would take the user to walkto the event location 706. In some aspects, the device 702 may requestthis information from the map server 714, which as previously described,may store information identifying the amount of time between points in abuilding. If the time for the user to walk to the event location 706does not exceed 15 minutes (step 1320: Y), the device 702 may proceed tostep 1330 to navigate the device 702 to the event location 706. If thetime for the user to walk to the event location 706 exceeds 15 minutes(step 1320: N), the device 702 may initiate and/or generate a virtualconnection in step 1325.

In step 1330, if the device 702 has not done so already, it maydetermine the amount of time it would take the user to walk from thelocation of the device 702 to the event location 706. In step 1335, thedevice 702 may generate an event notification. In some aspects, theevent notification may comprise the notification 1405 illustrated inFIG. 14, identifying the event name (Development Meeting) and the amountof time until the event starts (15 minutes). Alternatively, the device702 may generate the display screen shown in FIG. 15, which illustratesanother example display screen 1500 for displaying an event notification1505 in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein. The notification 1505 additionally includes the estimated amountof time for the user of the device 702 to walk from his or her currentlocation to the event location 706 (e.g., 5 minutes). Accordingly, theuser is notified when the user should start walking to the event at thelatest (e.g., in 7 minutes or at 6:17). The notification 1505 mayadditionally include the distance to the event location 706 (e.g., 900feet).

The notification 1505 may be periodically updated, such as every minute,and displayed on the device 702. The updated notification may include anupdated amount of time and an updated distance to the event location706, such as if the user has moved the device 702. The device 702 maydetermine the updated amount of time and updated distance in the mannerpreviously described.

In some aspects, the notification server 714 may push the eventnotifications 1405 and/or 1505 to the device 702. The notificationserver 714 may communicate with the map server 712 to determine theamount of time and/or the distance from the device 702 to the eventlocation 706, similar to the communication between the device 702 andthe map server 712 previously described. The notification server 714 mayperiodically push the event notification to the device 702 (and anyother devices invited to the event), such as every minute. The updatednotification may comprise the updated time and/or updated amount of timeto reach the event location 706.

Returning to FIG. 13, in step 1340, the device 702 may display detailsof the event. For example, the device 702 may display event details ifthe user slides the notification 1405 illustrated in FIG. 14, thenotification 1505 illustrated in FIG. 15, or otherwise requests eventdetails from the device 702.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example display screen 1600 for displayingdetails for an event in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein. The event details may include an event location field1605, which may identify Conference Room 1 as the location of theDevelopment Meeting. The event details may also include an event timefield 1610, which may be Monday, Nov. 17, 2020 from 11 AM to 11:30 AM.The event details may also include an organizer field 1615, whichindicates Jane Doe as the organizer of the Development Meeting. If thereare more organizers, the user may select the organizer field 1615 (orthe arrow included therein) to view a list of the additional organizers.The event details may also include an attendees field 1620, whichindicates that 8 people plan to attend the Development Meeting. The usermay select the attendees field 1620 (or an arrow included therein) toview a list of the attendees. Additional details for the event may bedisplayed in data field 1625.

The display screen 1600 may also include an option 1630 to navigate theuser of the device 702 from his or her current location to the eventlocation 706. Selecting this option may cause the device 702 to displaydirections instructing the user how to get to the event location 706, aswill be described below.

The display screen 1600 may include an option 1635 for the user of thedevice 702 to invite another person to the event, such as a user of thedevice 704. Selecting the option 1635 may cause the device 702 todisplay the example display screen 1700 illustrated in FIG. 17 forinviting another user to an event or a particular location, such as thedevice 702's location, in accordance with one or more illustrativeaspects described herein. In particular, a list of the user's contactsmay be displayed in the display screen 1700. The user may select one ofhis or her contacts, such as Colleague 1, and select the invite option1705 to invite colleague 1 to the event or to the location of the device702.

Returning to FIG. 13, in step 1345, the device 702 may determine whetherto invite another user to the event (e.g., if the user selected theinvite option 1705 illustrated in FIG. 17 or the invite option 1635illustrated in FIG. 16). If not (step 1345: N), the device 702 mayproceed to navigate the user to the event location 706, as will bedescribed below with reference to FIG. 19. If the user selects theoption to invite another user (step 1345: Y), the device 702 maydetermine the other user to invite in step 1350 (e.g., Colleague 1 asillustrated in FIG. 17).

In step 1355, the device 702 may send the invite to the selected user.In some aspects, the device 702 may send a request to the notificationserver 714 to send an invite notification to the device 704. FIG. 18illustrates an example display screen 1800 for the device 704 receivingan invitation 1805 to an event or a particular location in accordancewith one or more illustrative aspects described herein. The invitation1805 may identify the inviter (e.g., Jane Doe), the event (e.g.,Development Meeting), and/or the event location 706 (e.g., ConferenceRoom 1). The invitation 1805 may display an option 1810 to direct theinvited user to the event location 706. The invitation 1805 may alsodisplay an option 1815 that allows the invited user to view details ofthe event. One or more of the pieces of information illustrated in FIG.16 may be displayed on the device 704 if the user selects the detailsoption 1815.

Returning to FIG. 13, in step 1360, the device 704 may determine whetherthe user of the device 704 has requested directions to the eventlocation 706, such as by selecting the option 1810. If so (step 1360:Y), the device 704 may proceed to the navigation steps illustrated inFIG. 19 described below. If not (step 1360: N), the device 704, in step1365, may determine whether the user of the device 704 has requested toview event details, such as by selecting an option 1815. If so (step1365: Y), the device 704 may display the details of the event in step1370, which may be similar to the details illustrated in FIG. 16. If not(step 1365: N), the device 704 may optionally proceed to the navigationsteps illustrated in FIG. 19, such as, after a predetermined amount oftime. Alternatively, the device 704 may end the process for the device704 because the user of the device did not accept the invitation.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example method of generating a map and/ornavigation route to a target location, such as another device 704 or anevent location 706, in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein. The steps illustrated in FIG. 19 may be performed tonavigate the user of the device 702 to the location of the device 704(or vice versa), to navigate the user of device 702 to an event location706, and/or to navigate the user of device 704 to the event location706.

In step 1905, the device 702 may send its location and the location ofthe target (e.g., the location of device 704 or the event location 706)to the map server 712. The map server 712 may retrieve the appropriatenavigation information used to navigate the device 702 to the targetlocation. For example, the server 712 may retrieve a floor layout forthe building. If the device 702 and the target are located on differentfloors, the server 712 may retrieve the floor layout for each of thosefloors. The server 712 may also retrieve information identifying thedistance between the device 702 and the target location, includingdistances for each segment of the route. The server 712 may alsoretrieve information identifying the amount of time it will take theuser to walk from his or her current location to the target location,including the amount of time for each segment of the route.

In step 1910, the server 712 may send the information to the device 702(or the device 704 if the device 704 requested it). In step 1915, thedevice 702 (or the device 704) may generate a map and/or navigationroute to the target location using the information received from theserver 712. Alternatively, the server 712 may generate the map and/ornavigation route and send it to the device 702 (or the device 704), andthe device 702 (or the device 704) may display the map and/or navigationroute to the user.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example display screen 2000 for navigating a userto a target location 2015 in accordance with one or more illustrativeaspects described herein. The display screen 2000 may display thebuilding location and/or floor number 2005 for the displayed map. Thedisplay screen 2000 may display the location 2010 of the device 702 (orthe device 704) and the location 2015 of the target (e.g., the eventlocation 706 or the location of the device 704). The display screen 2000may also display a navigation route 2020 for navigating the user to thetarget location 2015. The display screen 2000 may optionally display theuser's progress 2025 to the target location 2015.

FIG. 21 illustrates another example display screen 2100 for navigatingthe user to the target location in accordance with one or moreillustrative aspects described herein. The display screen 2100 mayidentify the target location 2105 (e.g., Conference Room 1). The displayscreen 2100 may also provide turn-by-turn directions 2110 for navigatingthe user to the target location 2105.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are described asexample implementations of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a user device,an invitation from a second user device for a user of the user device togo to a location of a target within a building; displaying, at the userdevice, the invitation, including an option to select the target withinthe building; sending, by the user device, a request for the location ofthe second user device; receiving, from the second user device, anauthorization message to share the location of the second user device;in response to receiving the authorization message to share the locationof the second user device, receiving, at the user device, a selection ofthe option to select the target within the building; determining thelocation of the target within the building from among a plurality ofdiscrete locations within the building; determining, based on one ormore location sensors, a location of the user device within thebuilding; determining a navigation path within the building from thelocation of the user device to the location of the target; andgenerating, on a map of the building, a display of the navigation pathwithin the building from the location of the user device to the locationof the target for display on the user device.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein determining the location of the target within the building isbased on one or more second location sensors.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the target comprises an event, and wherein determining thelocation of the event comprises: accessing a calendar service comprisinginformation for the event; and determining, as the location of theevent, a location identified in the information for the event.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the target comprises an event, the methodfurther comprising: prior to receiving the selection of the option toselect the event, receiving, at the user device, a notification of theevent, wherein the notification is received a predetermined amount oftime prior to a start time of the event; and displaying, at the userdevice, the notification of the event, including an option to select theevent.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the target comprises a seconduser of the second user device.
 6. The method of claim
 1. wherein theone or more location sensors comprise one or more Bluetooth sensors orNear Field Communication sensors.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising generating a display of turn-by-turn directions within thebuilding from the location of the user device to the location of thetarget for display on the user device.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereingenerating, on the map of the building, the display of the navigationpath comprises overlaying the navigation path on the map of thebuilding.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating, on the map ofthe building, the display of the navigation path comprises generating,on the map of the building, a display of: one or more display screenelements indicating the location of the user device within the building,one or more display screen elements indicating the location of thetarget within the building, and one or more display screen elementsindicating the navigation path within the building from the location ofthe user device to the location of the target.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein determining the location of the target comprises determiningthe location of the target based on a communication between one or moresecond location sensors and a computing device located proximate to theone or more second location sensors.
 11. The method of claim 1, whereinthe target comprises an event, the method further comprising:generating, for display at the user device, a notification indicating astart time for the event and indicating an amount of time to move fromthe location of the user device to the location of the event.
 12. Anapparatus comprising: a display; a processor; and memory storingcomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor,cause the apparatus to: receive an invitation from a second apparatusfor a user of the apparatus to go to a location of a target within abuilding; display, on the display of the apparatus, the invitation,including an option to select the target within the building; send arequest for the location of the second apparatus; receive, from thesecond apparatus, an authorization message to share the location of thesecond apparatus; in response to receiving the authorization message toshare the location of the second apparatus, receive a selection of theoption to select the target within the building; determine the locationof the target within the building, from among a plurality of discretelocations within the building; determine, based on one or more locationsensors, a location of the apparatus within the building; determine anavigation path within the building from the location of the apparatusto the location of the target; and generate, on a map of the building, adisplay of the navigation path within the building from the location ofthe apparatus to the location of the target for display on the displayof the apparatus.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the targetcomprises an event, and wherein determining the location of the eventcomprises: accessing a calendar service comprising information for theevent; and determining, as the location of the event, a locationidentified in the information for the event.
 14. The apparatus of claim12, wherein: the target comprises a second user of the second apparatus,the location of the target comprises a location of the second apparatus,and determining the location of the target comprises determining thelocation of the second apparatus.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein: the target comprises an event, the location of the targetcomprises the location of the event, and determining the location of theevent comprises: accessing a calendar service comprising information forthe event; and determining, as the location of the event, a locationidentified in the information for the event.
 16. The apparatus of claim12, wherein the target comprises a second user of the second apparatus.17. A non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-readableinstructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause thecomputing device to: receive an invitation from a second computingdevice for a user of the computing device to go to a location of atarget within a building; display the invitation, including an option toselect the target within the building; send a request for the locationof the second computing device; receive, from the second computingdevice, an authorization message to share the location of the secondcomputing device; in response to receiving the authorization message toshare the location of the second computing device, receive a selectionof the option to select the target within the building; determine thelocation of the target within the building from among a plurality ofdiscrete locations within the building; determine, based on one or morelocation sensors, a location of the computing device within thebuilding; determine a navigation path within the building from thelocation of the computing device to the location of the target; andgenerate, on a map of the building, a display of the navigation pathwithin the building from the location of the computing device to thelocation of the target for display at the computing device.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the targetcomprises an event, the media storing computer-readable instructionsthat, when executed by the computing device, cause the computing deviceto: prior to receiving the selection of the option to select the event,receive a notification of the event, wherein the notification isreceived a predetermined amount of time prior to a start time of theevent; and display, at the computing device, the notification of theevent, including an option to select the event.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer-readable media of claim 17, wherein the target comprises asecond user of the second computing device.